Machine for interlacing leaves of paper in sets



Aug. 11, 1936. 1pm 1 2,050,669

MACHINE FOR INTERLACING LEAVES OF PAPER IN SETS Filed July 2'7, 1935 J Pau Patented Aug. 11, 1936 UNITED STATES MACHINE FOR INTERLACING LEAVES OF PAPER IN SETS 7 Jose Puig, Barcelona, Spain, assignor toMiquel y Costas & Miquel S. A., Barcelona, Spain, a

company of Spain Application July 27, 1935, Serial No. 33,599 1 In Spain February 19, 1935 r 3 Claims.

My invention relates to machines for interlacing leaves of paper and which are employed in the manufacture of packets of paper, for cases of smoking paper and other uses, and its object is to provide an improvement in such machines, whereby the interlacing of the sheets of paper is interrupted periodically so that the set of interlaced papers is dividedinto packets containing a determined number of leaves.

The machines usually employed for this work are based on the combination of two identical toothed wheels, having teeth or" angular profile and which rotate at the same speed and in opposite directions to each other, the teeth of one Wheel engaging with clearance in the spaces between the teeth of the other wheel.

In the most usual types of such machines, a mechanism for feeding the leaves operates above each wheel, which mechanism cuts the leaves of paper successively from a continuous strip and after folding the leaves about their centre allows them to fall upon the gaps between theteeth of the wheel as the latter moves below the feeding mechanism.

The leaves deposited upon each wheel, upon encountering the leaves carried by the other wheel become interlaced with these other leaves and the series of leaves thus interlaced collects in a receiver interposed on its path and in which the leaves become stacked in an indefinite number.

From the stack of leaves obtained in this manner, the packets containing the desired chosen number of leaves are finally formed.

In order to avoid the laborious operation of counting the leaves by hand in order to form the packets, and the consequent daily waste that this represents, some of these machines are provided with an auxiliary mechanism which interposes between the leaves of paper of one of the wheels a leaf of paper of different colour or a card at the point at which the set of stacked leaves should be divided.

Both systems have the disadvantage of increasing the cost of the production by the substantial waste represented by the inserted paper or card and the manual labour required.

Other constructors arrange in the machine a pneumatic system which periodically when the desired number of leaves has passed the interlacing point, retains the following leaf by suction and prevents it from interlacing with the corresponding leaf on the other wheel, so that the desired discontinuity is produced in this set of leaves, but this system complicates the construction of the machine and makes it very liable to get out of order, resulting in frequent interruptions in the work.

The present invention solves the problem without possessing the above mentioned disadvantages and it consists essentially in combining with one of the leaf feeding mechanisms, a regulating mechanism which, each time the number of leaves corresponding to each packet has been deposited suitably folded upon the tooth gaps of the wheels, interposes to the outlet of the following leaf an inclined plane which collects it'and prevents it from reaching the wheel. In this way, upon encountering the tooth gap that is not provided with a leaf, the corresponding leaves of the other wheel do not interlace so that packets containing the desired number of leaves are thus formed automatically. 7

In the accompanying drawing, a machine for interlacing leaves of paper, provided with the improvement forming the subject of this patent,- is illustrated diagrammatically.

This machine may for example comprise in the usual manner as essential parts, two toothed crowns or wheels I, 2, having teeth of angular profile and fixed respectivelyon parallel shafts which rotate with a suitable movement at the same velocity and in opposite .directions as indicated by the arrows.

Both wheels engage with one another with a certain clearance, which permits them to rotate freely without contact.

At the upper part of each wheel are mounted the mechanisms 3 for feeding the sheets and in which a knife 4 cuts the leaves from a strip of paper 5 proceeding from a spool 6 and fed to the machine by a pair of driving rollers 1.

In continuation of the knife 4 a laminer rule or rod 8 operates to fold the cut leaves about their centre and pass them between the guide rollers 9 from which they pass to the expelling rollers l0 which allow them to fall and distribute them uniformly, one in each tooth gap of the wheels. The leaves thus deposited upon each wheel, upon encountering the leaves carried by the other wheel, are interlaced with these other leaves and in this form leave the wheels and are collected in a receiving channel 30, arranged in the zone of engagement of the two wheels. 7

In accordance with the improvement forming the subject of the present invention, and in order that the series of interlaced leaves will leave the machine already divided into packets containing the desired number of leaves, a regulating mechanism is arranged in combination with one of the two toothed wheels, the wheel 2 for example and its corresponding leaf feeding mechanism 3.

This regulating mechanism is mounted upon a fixed support l2 which carries an inclined plane 13 against which bears a slidable channel I4 which in its normal position has its upper end or mouth situated very close to the vertical trajectory of the leaves II when they leavethe rollers ID of the feeding mechanism.

This channel I4 is connected at its lower part by means of a sliding pivot l5 to the free end of a lever I6 also pivoted at its other end to an arm! 1 fixed on the support l2. The lever l6 bears laterally by means of a contact roller 18 upon a rotary plate or eccentric I 9 provided with a cam 20 which periodically causes the lever to swing. The lever in its turn causes the channel 14 to slide towards the said rollers l and interposes iton the downward path of the leaves in order to catch the leaf expelled at this moment, whereby the said leaf is'prevented from falling on the correspond ing gap of the wheel.

When this has occurred, the channel I4 is withdrawn into its original positionby the means described above, and allows the following leaves to fall freely again in anumber corresponding to each period of operation of the regulating mechanism, while the leaf caught by the channel is conveyed to a hopper formed by a terminal container 2| providedon the channel I4 at its lower part.

For the withdrawal of the channel and the conveying of the leaves collected, this channel is provided at its lower part, which serves as its base, with an elastic endless band 22 which is engaged with a suitable tension between a loose pulley 23 situated at the upper end of the channel, and'a driving pulley 24 mounted on the fixed support l2. This elastic band 22, in addition to maintaining the channel normally at its lower end against a stop, as illustrated in the drawing, serves at the same time as a conveyor, as stated above, for carrying the leaves collected in the channel, which are thus stacked in the hopper 2| and may, if desired, be interlaced by hand inorder to form small book packets.

If the angular velocity of the eccentric [9 which causes the channel to slide in order to collect the leaves is suitably proportioned in relation with the speed of rotation of the toothed wheel 2, the frequency of the interruption or discontinuity in the interlacing of the leaves may be regulated so that each fraction of the set of interlaced leaves produced by the machine will contain exactly the number of leaves corresponding to each packet or container.

I claim:

1. A machine for interlacing leaves of paper for packets of smoking paper and other applications, provided with two toothed wheels which interlace the'leaves and a feed mechanism for the leaves which allows them to fall in a folded condition upon the wheels in combination with a mechanism constituted by a channel slidable upon a fixed inclined plane, this channel normally having its upper end situated very close to the path of the leaves that fall upon the wheel and means for making said channel slide, interposing it in the path of the leaves in order to take up a leaf preventing same from falling upon the wheel and thus producing an interruption in the series of 25 interlaced leaves.

2. In a machine for interlacing leaves of paper according to claim 1, said means comprising a lever pivotally connected to the lower end of said channel, a cam adapted to drive said lever in such a manner that when the number of leaves corresponding to a package have fallen upon the wheels of the machine said cam actuates said channel to slide to make said interposition.

3. In a machine for interlacing leaves of paper according to claim 1, a receiver provided in the lower part of said channel, an elastic endless band, a fixed base for said channel, a driving roller forsaid band mounted on said base, a pulley for the band on the channel, whereby said channel actuated by said band is made to retrogress after having advanced and taken up a leaf, said endless elastic band serving in addition as a carrier for the leaf collected in the channel and for depositing it in said receiver.

JOSE PUIG. 

